William & Kate Hit the Slopes for Their Last Day in Norway

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge kicked off their final day in Oslo with a visit to the Hartvig Nissen School where a popular Norwegian television show, Skam, is filmed. The show focuses on various issues facing adolescents, including mental health, thus aligning with William and Kate’s ongoing work with Heads Together.

Following that engagement, the two couples returned to Haakon and Mette-Marit’s home, Skaugum Estate, for a private luncheon. The four were photographed chatting beforehand, at which point they were joined by the family’s pet labradoodle, Muffins. As you know, Lupo remains my favorite member of the Cambridge family and I’m inclined to extend that regard to Muffins as well.

For both of these day engagements Kate wore a new purple Dolce & Gabbana coat so reminiscent of the black D&G she wore for Remembrance Day this past November that I at first thought they were identical. In fact, the purple has a collar while the black did not, but as you can see (via the link above) they are both double-breasted with gold buttons. Given that Kate was four and seven months pregnant when wearing each coat I hope that they’re easy enough to take in since they seem like solid staples for her closet.

The coat was worn over a floral dress by Norwegian brand TiMo in a nod to her host country and with her trusty Tod’s heels. We didn’t get a good look at the dress since Kate kept her coat on even inside today, but you can see the full effect here.

The Mirror ran an article on why Kate kept her coat on indoors (important stuff, really), claiming it’s because removing her coat during an engagement would break royal protocol since it’s “unladylike to undress in public.” Needless to say, this is false and as evidenced by the number of times Kate and other female members of the BRF have removed their coats during engagements. As for why Kate didn’t today, I guess it’ll just be one of life’s eternal mysteries.

The article also referred to Haakon and Mette-Marit as William and Kate’s “Norwegian counterparts.” In fact, the former outranks the latter and the Norwegian couple are the counterparts of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

After lunch, all four moved on to the final engagement of the day at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, one of Norway’s most iconic landmarks. Indeed, from their perch on the mountain they were privy to breathtaking views over Oslo. The below video shared by Richard Palmer gives you a sense of it:

They were joined there by a group of schoolchildren taking part in a ski lesson, as arranged by the Norwegian Ski Federation, to demonstrate how seriously Norway takes the sport. As we covered in a post last month on Edward VII’s daughter, Queen Maud of Norway, she too become an avid skier when she ascended the throne in an effort to acclimate to her new country’s culture.

And that, kids, is a wrap. William and Kate have departed Oslo and returned home to London, thus closing the book on a whirlwind four-day tour. And while the visit appears to have been a success on multiple fronts, I’m sure they’re relieved to rejoin their children and the much more temperate British weather(!)

As for us, we’re going to take a bit of a breather this weekend, but I have a number of history posts scheduled for the next two weeks. Kate is due to carry out an engagement in Essex on Wednesday and reportedly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit Edinburgh on Tuesday the 13th as the next phase of Meghan’s introductory tour. Never a dull moment!